Haunted Georgetown

6. Martin's Tavern

Washington, DC

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The next several stops on the tour represent a brief look into the lives of our 35th President, John F. Kennedy, and his wife Jackie Kennedy, when they lived in Georgetown in the 1950s before President Kennedy'?s term in the White House and then again after his assassination in 1963. Next door to Forrest Hall (now the GAP) on the corner of Wisconsin Avenue and N Street is Martin's Tavern. This eight-decade-old, family-owned establishment is one of Georgetown'?s most popular restaurants, but it also one of the most important sites in the lives of the Kennedys. Inside this restaurant, John Kennedy proposed to marry Jackie Bouvier. According to fourth-generation restaurant owner, Billy Martin, it was on Wednesday, June 24, 1953, sitting in booth number three, that a young Senator from Massachusetts asked a beautiful newspaper reporter to marry him, giving her a 2.88-carat diamond-and-emerald ring from Van Cleef and Arpels. They were married that September, creating one of the most famous marriages in American history. If you go inside Martin's, you will see the restaurant largely as it existed at the time of J.F.K.'s proposal to Jackie. The staff are happy to show visitors the famous booth (giving due consideration to current diners) and several photos of the Kennedys are hung on the wall to memorialize the restaurant'?s very special historical significance.